To Tan or Not To Tan?

Posted on 7th September 2017

Beauty covers a whole heap of things and with so many topics to cover it was difficult to choose what to write about next, especially at this time of year, when it’s all about looking and feeling good in the summer sun.

*I must also just mention that as a professional and in my personal life I generally prefer a more ‘natural’ approach to treatments, products, lifestyle and health. So although fake tanning is far from a natural product some of my other suggestions and product advice will be.*

As we’re still in summer, (just about) and as I’ve recently been abroad, I felt tanning would be a suitable subject to discuss. From self tanning to maintaining your real summer tan, I’ll try to cover it all.

The market for self tanning is huge and as we all love to have that fresh holiday glow, all year round here are some of my favourite products and some tanning do’s and don’ts.

To start when using any false tan, it’s important to firstly decide which one will suit you best and ensure you carry out all your hair removal at least 24 hours prior to application followed by a full exfoliation. Finding a good scrub with a grain to make your skin feel super smooth is vital, I like Fake Bake Passionfruit Body Polish and I usually combine it with a textured rough mitt to scrub it onto my skin. Focusing on my ankles, heels, knees and elbows, by exfoliating like this you’ll avoid the tan from developing in patches.

Now your skin is all prepped and ready to tan, which one to use? My favourites are Fake Bake Original Self-Tan lotion, St Tropez Self Tan Express Bronzing Mousse and Moroccan Tan Original Lotion. They’ve all worked great for me over the years and I’ve always found them very easy to apply with fantastic colour. I do like a spray tan now and again and they’re generally a good way to ensure a light even colour, providing they are applied well.
If applying the tan yourself though, always remember to wear gloves and ensure you never miss a spot! The places not to forget are your ears, hairline, toes and between your fingers, although be very careful with your hands. I have certainly learnt the hard way with this and less is definitely more.
Once thoroughly applied wear loose clothing and leave to develop for the desired amount of time, check the product instructions. After that a good rinse and you should have yourself a fabulous summer glow!!

Fake tanning definitely has a stigma attached to it but not being a fan of sun beds I feel it’s the safest possible way to give yourself some colour without jetting off somewhere for a week and applying factor 50.

On my recent trip to Europe I was quickly reminded of how much my skin wasn’t accustomed to the warmer climates anymore, as it had been 3 years since I had left St Maarten and been abroad. Using an appropriate factor of suncream is crucial when building a natural tan and a deeply nourishing moisturiser for daily application along with a good aftersun. For this I always love to use an Aloe Vera Gelly, check the ingredients and use one that has the highest quantity of Aloe in you can find. If you pop it in the fridge whilst you are out for the day, your sun caught skin will love you when you come to smother yourself in it later that day.

Hopefully I have covered all bases on fake tanning and touched a little on natural tanning, if you have any questions about anything I’ve mentioned please get in touch.